ES EN
Menu Menú

Publications

Publicaciones

Search Publications

Buscar publicaciones

Filters Filtro de búsqueda

to a

clear selection Quitar los filtros

none

Article Artículo

Arthur Brooks Argues We Should be Soft on Rich Criminals in Sharing Economy

We all know how hard is to get rich these days, so it's understandable that Arthur Brooks wants to give the young men and women making fortunes in the "sharing economy" a hand. (He even dubs it the "helping industry," which apparently is to distinguish it from sectors like health care and education.) Anyhow, the gist of his piece is that companies like Airbnb are actually about helping people -- allowing people with unused rooms to make a bit of extra money, while people from out of town get to find a room at a lower cost than a traditional hotel. He is upset that governments around the country are trying to apply the same regulations to his friends in the helping industry as they do their competition in the hotel industry, taxi industry, or other sectors where the helpers compete.

First, we all understand that the Airbnb billionaires just want to help people (Brooks assures us that getting rich was beside the point), but sometimes the government does get in the way. Let's take a simple example that even conservative types might understand. The Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi is being sold in the United States for $84,000 for a 3-month course of treatment. This high price is due to a government granted patent monopoly. Indian producers can profitably sell generic Sovaldi for $1,000 a treatment.

Suppose I set up a helping industry company that bought up generic Sovaldi in large quantities in India and sold it to patients in the United States for $10,000 a treatment. Brooks would undoubtedly defend Baker's Cheap Drugs Inc., since we are just allowing people to get needed health care at an affordable price. And, we are creating jobs in India for people working in the drug industry. Why would big bad government interfere?

Okay, we all know the story about needing patents to provide an incentive for research (which happens not to be true). But the key point is that there are all sorts of situations in which the government doesn't just let "helpers" go about their business because third parties get hurt in important ways.

Dean Baker / October 18, 2014